This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 61/469,527 filed on Mar. 30 2011, the entire disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference in its entirety without disclaimer.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of stem cell development. More particularly, it concerns production of neural cells from pluripotent stem cells.
2. Description of Related Art
Pluripotent stem cells, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) cells, are a potential source of cells for production of differentiated cells representative of all cell types of an organism. Differentiation of pluripotent stem cells can be achieved either spontaneously or upon induction.
However, a number of obstacles have stood in the way of developing a paradigm for obtaining substantially enriched populations of specific lineage cells from pluripotent stem cells. Most current approaches involve the formation of embryoid bodies (i.e., cell aggregate) from pluripotent cells in a manner that is not controlled and does not result in homogeneous populations. Mixed cell populations such as those in embryoid bodies of this type are generally unlikely to be suitable for therapeutic or commercial use. Additional problems ensue from the relative fragility of pluripotent cells of primate origin, the difficulty in culturing them, their exquisite sensitivity and dependence on various factors present in the culture environment, and low efficiency and wide variation of differentiation methods.
In particular, it has not been possible to control the differentiation of pluripotent cells in vitro, to provide homogeneous populations of neural cells. In addition, many current methods have relied upon the expression of foreign genes to drive neural differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (Kim et al, 2002). These limitations have restricted the ability to form essentially homogeneous populations of neural cells in vitro, and have restricted their further development for therapeutic and commercial applications.
Thus, there is a need to improve neural differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, especially for large-scale or high efficiency production.